Xtended

Graeme Rendall has appeared several times on Xtended to talk about such diverse topics as Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon and the history of RAF Morpeth. On both occasions these episodes proved popular and we teased you with mention of a plane spotting trip Graeme made to Russia in 1992, just six months after the fall of the iron curtain; a trip that even until today has never been repeated.

Graeme is back to tell us all about the journey recorded in his book “To The Ends Of The Earth: A Snapshot Of Aviation In North-Eastern Siberia, Summer 1992” the amazing and rare aircraft he saw and the whole post-Soviet Union aviation experience. 

 Recorded 9th May 2023 

 Contact Us: [email protected]  

 Graeme Rendall  

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Only 54 examples of the iconic and much-adored Vickers VC10 were built, yet it went on to become an innovator and market changer for international long-haul travel. Great British technology and its suitability for multiple roles lead it to have an extended life with the RAF as an airlifter and tanker. 

 In this feature we talk to Jelle Hieminga, an expert on the VC10, and webmaster for the highly entertaining and detailed web portal and encyclopedia for the VC10 – VC10.net  

Recorded 25th April 2023 

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VC10derness 

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• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/
• Global Aviation Resource http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/
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• Ellie Carter https://twitter.com/dragongirl94

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With the UK leading aerospace company Reaction Engines now leading the way in technology application from space rockets to Formula 1 and into today’s market for sustainable flight, we have an exclusive opportunity to speak to Mark Thomas, Reaction Engines Chief Executive Officer, about the company, its products and it’s exciting future innovations.

Reaction Engines are a privately held technology Company pioneering space access and sustainable technologies. For over 30 years they have been at the forefront of engineering innovation – including developing SABRE, a revolutionary new class of aerospace propulsion. SABRE enables us to go beyond the limits of flight both within and outside the atmosphere, making space travel and high-speed flight more efficient, more accessible, more possible.

Recorded 12th April 2023

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Reaction Engines 

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• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/
• Wings Over New Zealand Show http://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZ_Show.html
• Aviation Enthusiasts Book Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/359410134220076
• Aircrew Book Review http://aircrewbookreview.blogspot.com/

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Chris Taylor has had a successful career as a Royal Navy officer, helicopter pilot, test pilot, instructor and as an internationally acclaimed civil certification test pilot.

His latest book ‘Experimental Test Pilot: Military Aircraft Research Flying’ (published on April 29th 2023) is his account of his ten years’ service as an experimental test pilot, at MoD Boscombe Down, the UK’s tri-Service home of military aircraft testing and evaluation. Also known as the Empire Test Pilot School. 

You can buy a copy here https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9781399048859  

Recorded 12th April 2023 

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Chris Taylor  

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• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/
• Global Aviation Resource http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/
• XTPMedia https://www.xtpmedia.co.uk/
• Ellie Carter https://twitter.com/dragongirl94

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/
• Wings Over New Zealand Show http://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZ_Show.html
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• Aircrew Book Review http://aircrewbookreview.blogspot.com/

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‘Confessions of a Flying Instructor: Teaching the RAF’s Fighter Pilots’ is Tug Wilson’s second book and he joins us to discuss the time in his career teaching new fighter pilots. As always, Tug is great company with Gareth in this sometimes hilarious, and at other times frightening, story of his time as a flight instructor.

Tug Wilson grew up in North Yorkshire and in 1985, his dream came true when he joined the RAF. He was selected to fly the mighty Phantom for his first tour.

After raging around for three years at the frontline, Wilson became a tactics and flying instructor on the BAE Systems Hawk. Following this, he was extremely lucky in securing an exchange tour with the US Marine Corps flying the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet in California. His final flying tour was on the Tornado F3.

‘Confessions of a Phantom Pilot: Memories of Flying the Phantom FGR2’ was Tug’s first book.

Recorded 19th March 2023

Tug Wilson

Website: https://www.fonthill.media/collections/aviation/products/flying-instructor

Xtended Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9781781559079

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/
• Global Aviation Resource http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/
• XTPMedia https://www.xtpmedia.co.uk/
• Ellie Carter https://twitter.com/dragongirl94

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/
• Wings Over New Zealand Show http://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZ_Show.html
• Aviation Enthusiasts Book Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/359410134220076
• Aircrew Book Review http://aircrewbookreview.blogspot.com/

You can shop through this Amazon link (No cost to you but a small benefit to us):
• https://www.amazon.co.uk/?tag=xtenaeroradi-21&linkCode=ur1

For Aviation and Aerospace Podcasts join https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlightAudioandVideo/

On our Journalist’s Roundtable discussion in Ep.161 (Trust Me I’m an Aviation Journalist), Rich Cooper mentioned the visit to a North Korea Airshow. We wanted to find out more and Rich introduced us to author and photographer, Gerry Manning, who was there.

Gerry joins us to share the experience and we talk airliners and fighter jets as well as helicopters, cargo lifters and microlights. All sourced from behind the ‘iron curtain’!

We also explore the food, culture and history of North Korea, as Gerry takes us back through a trip to a “once in a lifetime” air show.

Recorded 24th February 2023

Gerry’s book: ‘North Korean Aviation: An Eyewitness Account’ is available through our bookstore https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9781802820379

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Gerry Manning

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In the second part of our feature Sree (KS Nair) talks to us about IAF Training, aircraft types and ground attack tactics. We expose some of the challenges around motivation as well as culture and work through the quote from many at the time that “The Indian Air Force was an experiment that was never meant to succeed”.

K.S. NAIR is the son and son-in-law of Indian Air Force officers. He is a graduate of IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore, and a former director and CEO of multinational consulting firms. But, beyond that, he has been a lifelong student of Indian aviation history.

He has collected aviation-related material with an India connection from around the globe. He counts himself fortunate to have grown up around people who played key roles in some of the Air Force’s finest hours (as well as some of its most difficult), and having met several key figures from the periods he writes about.

He has published a number of articles on the Indian armed forces in Indian, American and British journals. This is his second book; his first, ‘Ganesha’s Flyboys’ (2012), covered the Indian Air Force’s role in the first-ever UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo (where they were succeeded in their UN role by a detachment of Swedish Saab J29 Tunnans).  His third book, published in mid-2022, covers the Indian armed forces’ role in the independence of Bangladesh.

Recorded 10th February 2023

Link Tree https://linktr.ee/aviationxtended

Contact Us: [email protected]

KS Nair

Other selected writing

Indian pilots in the UK and Middle East, during WW2:

Indian pilots in Burma during WW2:

The air war in India and Burma (World War Two) has not received the focus it deserves. In this episode we talk to author K.S. Nair (Sree) to look at this area of conflict, the contribution made to the allied efforts in both WW1 and WW2, as well as the evolution and early operations of the Indian Air Force.

K.S. Nair is the son and son-in-law of Indian Air Force officers. He is a graduate of IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore, and a former director and CEO of multinational consulting firms. But, beyond that, he has been a lifelong student of Indian aviation history.

He has collected aviation-related material with an India connection from around the globe. He counts himself fortunate to have grown up around people who played key roles in some of the Air Force’s finest hours (as well as some of its most difficult), and having met several key figures from the periods he writes about.

He has published a number of articles on the Indian armed forces in Indian, American and British journals. This is his second book; his first, Ganesha’s Flyboys (2012), covered the Indian Air Force’s role in the first-ever UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo (where they were succeeded in their UN role by a detachment of Swedish Saab J29 Tunnans).  His third book, published in mid-2022, covers the Indian armed forces’ role in the independence of Bangladesh.

Recorded 6th February 2023

Link Tree https://linktr.ee/aviationxtended

Contact Us: [email protected]

KS Nair

Other selected writing

Indian pilots in the UK and Middle East, during WW2:

Indian pilots in Burma during WW2:

The story of China is space is not one widely known nor properly understood in Western corridors, although China of course has been launching rockets for almost a thousand years. In this episode we welcome back author and Chinese space expert Brian Harvey to help us address that.

In 2019, China astonished the world by landing a spacecraft and rover on the far side of the Moon, something never achieved by any country before. China had already become a leading spacefaring nation alongside the United States and Russia, sending men and women into orbit, building a space laboratory (Tiangong) and sending probes to the Moon and asteroids.

Get a copy of Brian’s book ‘China in Space: The Great Leap Forward’ from the Xtended Bookshop

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9783030195878

Brian Harvey

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Cranfield Aerospace Solutions’ (CAeS) is an established aerospace business of over 33 years, with 100+ staff and is one of very few aerospace SMEs globally to have both whole aircraft concept design capability and to hold a range of regulatory approvals for the design and manufacture of modifications to existing aircraft.

CAeS is based at Cranfield Airport, Bedfordshire, UK where the company has access to some of the UK’s most advanced aviation test and research facilities.

Phase 1 of their roadmap is “Project Fresson” – the conversion of a Britten-Norman Islander 9-seat aircraft from conventional fossil fuel to that of gaseous hydrogen propulsion. This development is set to deliver the world’s first fully certified, truly green, passenger-carrying aircraft using hydrogen fuel cell technology. The end solution will deliver emissions-free commercial air travel and is planned to be certified for passenger flight in 2026.

CAeS ultimate ambition is to become an aircraft designer and manufacturer of zero emissions aircraft.

Cranfield Aerospace Solutions

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

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• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

You can shop through this Amazon link (No cost to you but a small benefit to us):

For Aviation and Aerospace Podcasts join https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlightAudioandVideo/